![\"Jaylen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/6d1b5b1c-a0f8-4487-b902-c29c12294d18_1763750529.jpg\")
<\/a>CAPE CORAL, Fla. \u2014<\/p>\nThe developers of the Gulf Gateway Resort and Marina in Cape Coral are requesting city approval to establish a community development district for their 47-acre Seven Islands project, following months of debate sparked by the illegal removal of mangroves on the 7th Island. <\/p>\n
A CDD operates like a mini-government for a specific project, with a five-member board authorized to oversee infrastructure and maintenance, including roadway improvements, water lines, drainage, environmental work, and landscaping. Developers typically use CDDs to issue bonds and borrow money for such projects. <\/p>\n
Gulf Gateway Resort and Marina representatives stated that the proposed CDD would not authorize new construction but would allow them to borrow funds and manage maintenance independently. Only property owners within the district would pay additional fees, while those outside the Seven Islands project area would not be affected. <\/p>\n
Cape Coral resident Andy Alcorn expressed optimism about the project, saying, \u201cThe Seven Islands project, it\u2019s exciting to have more commercial real estate. One thing that I think needs is more commercial properties. Because residential properties don\u2019t really pay, the tax base commercial pays the bills. So I think it\u2019d be really great for the area.\u201d <\/p>\n
However, some residents voiced concerns about the developers\u2019 past actions.<\/p>\n
One resident said, \u201cThere\u2019s so many homes right now up for sale, and they\u2019re still building constantly. I feel like we should definitely take a pause on development and just focus on the homes that are already built right now and try to fill those in.\u201d <\/p>\n
Another resident criticized the mangrove removal<\/a>, saying, \u201cCertain areas I feel like that should be more protected, especially when it comes to mangroves, because those are protected. And I don\u2019t really like how they tore it out, basically saying that they were tearing out invasive plants. But obviously they said that on purpose just to get away with it.\u201d <\/p>\n Alcorn, who moved to Cape Coral to live near the Seven Islands development<\/a>, added, \u201cAs long as it stays in sync with the city. And it\u2019s not just a separate, you know, bureaucratic endeavor. But to help regulate things more and more. If it helps the city, then I think it could be okay, but I don\u2019t have a strong opinion on that.\u201d <\/p>\n The 7th Island portion of the project is currently under review for a restoration plan following the illegal mangrove removal<\/a>. Developers said they anticipate construction to begin in 2027, if not earlier.<\/p>\n Cape Coral City Council set a public hearing for this ordinance for July 22.<\/p>\n DOWNLOAD\u202fthe free\u202fGulf Coast News app<\/a>\u202ffor your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more on your phone or tablet. And check out the Very Local Gulf Coast app<\/a> to stream news, entertainment and original programming on your TV.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cape Coral developers propose special district after mangrove removal controversy CAPE CORAL, Fla. \u2014 The developers of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":341863,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[140390,209,211,210,88411,107198,5752,61022,140398,140394,54634,140397,28,140389,137169,140392,140391,140393,137167,140395,56078,123480,123479,121031,140396,88176],"class_list":["post-341862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-7th-island","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news","tag-cdd","tag-city-approval","tag-commercial-real-estate","tag-community-development-district","tag-construction-2027","tag-development-controversy","tag-drainage","tag-environmental-work","tag-florida","tag-gulf-gateway-resort","tag-gulf-gateway-resort-and-marina","tag-illegal-mangrove-removal","tag-mangrove-removal","tag-residents-concerns","tag-restoration-plan","tag-roadway-improvements","tag-seven-islands","tag-streams","tag-us-privacy-notice-term","tag-use-nextfre","tag-water-lines","tag-wbbh"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=341862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341862\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/341863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=341862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=341862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}